Associate Professor Michelle Telfer

Associate Professor Michelle Telfer MBBS (Hons) FRACP is a paediatrician and adolescent medicine physician and is currently director of the Department of Adolescent Medicine at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne. She is also the director of the RCH Gender Service and has been instrumental in the development and expansion of the clinical and research programs amid rising demand for trans-specific health care in children and adolescents.

As an advocate for improved access to medical treatment, Michelle was central to the achievement of federal legal reform. Her efforts led to transgender young people getting access to hormone and surgical treatment without approval from the Family Court of Australia. She is also first author of the inaugural Australian clinical guidelines for trans and gender diverse children and adolescents.

Michelle gave expert testimony to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System in 2020 and has provided advice to the Victorian Government via the Trans and Gender Diverse Expert Advisory Group since 2016. Michelle held an executive position on the board of directors of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health from 2014-2020 and was president for the final two years of this tenure.

Michelle was awarded the 2017 GLOBE Community Award for LGBTI Ally of the Year, the President’s Award by Thorne Harbour Health in 2021 and she received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Adolescent Health by the Australian Association for Adolescent Health in 2019. Led by Michelle, the RCHGS was awarded the Minister for Mental Health’s Award for excellence in consumer leadership and advocacy at the Victorian Public Healthcare Awards in 2015 and 2018.